Getting on the plane to Jinan.

I jump on my bike and take a ride. I found this bike store. 

Solutions are about meeting a need, rather than the other way around. 

This man appears to have given birth to this bike. Actually he was having his front light relocated after getting a new front basket. He has one of the lightweight lithium battery packs. 

Everyone enjoying the last few warm days before the winter kicks in.  

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A very basic ebike and 3 very uncomfortable looking chairs. 

I asked if these birds were for sale. They were not! I didn't want one anyway.

This kid on the folding bike just gave me the 7 second warning to stop staring at him... or else. 

A flag in the city square. (map) 

Every city even small ones should have a city park. (map)

Survival of the least fit. 

A group of "soccer moms" pick up their kids (or more accurately "kid") on the ebike. (map) The lady in the middle with the sunglasses has a chat with the other moms. She explains that the eleveator in her building stopped and she had to carry the battery down 3 flights of stairs. I feel her pain. 

The interesting thing here is that moms are actually talking! Sitting behind me are the other parents, but they are inside their cars. They (maybe) only come out when the kids get released from the school. It is to the point to where the car-driving moms are totally uninterested in talking with the bike riding moms. There is a simple physical barrier, not to mention the social-economic barrier that might exist. I wonder what happens when a car "e-bike mom" suddenly gets a car. Will she still come out and chat with the others or loose the social outlet. I can guess the answer. 

I flip around and the car-driving parents are visible in the background. The kids are just coming out now. You can see the parents gathering to greet them. 

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The kids come out after a long day in school. Their release is staggered to prevent massive traffic jams, but it does not matter, the road gets blocked anyway. The school releases lower grades first. At this school each grade has maybe 4-5 class groups. 

I have seen entire city blocks shut down because of this. If the parents switch to cars, this will be totally impossible. 

The teacher at the front of the line shouts out some important details for the parents to hear. She explains the importance of doing the math assignments. The nice thing about this system is that the teacher is able to speak face-to-face with the parents every day. Behavior problems can be corrected very quickly. This is missed in the States where parents are briefly face-to-face only with the bus driver. 

The kids get to go home. They run away from the school, this seems to be universal.

Mom brings a snack to hold the kid over until dinner is ready. 

The teacher stays back to give the parents opportunity to ask questions. The next group of kids will come out soon. 

But wait! Call in the next 30 minutes and get this free handy clothes drying accessory!

I meet up with a group of friends and they insist that I go to lunch. This almost always means one thing: Alcohol!

I am given physical proof of the alcohol's strength. 

Every part of chicken is eaten. 

Shot of the table. 

Later I take a ride to work off the lunch. This Tricycle is battery-powered. The blue motor is visible under the cargo bed. It rockets up this hill even with this load. This is essentially an real electric car! A few years back they all had small gas motors attached, now I see many such vehicles. If this guy has already switched to electric, it is certain that electric has become an economic alternative to fossil fuels.

Ebikes are sold outside of a big box retailer. 

Another bike parking lot. This one is free, but they will strap an ID badge to your bike and give you a corresponding  card. You must present this card to claim your bike. 

This lady slaps the lock over the rear wheel in one smooth motion. I really like this lock design. On TV, I saw a man who invented a similar lock but opens via wireless remote. 

Everyone locks the the wheel in this way. Some use the integrated brake lock. Emmelle.cm (lots of animated Flash content)

Emmelle is a popular brand. 

Every design that gets popular, gets immediately copied. There is almost total disregard for intellectual property. The upside is that products evolve rapidly and prices are quickly smashed.  

Its clear why this design is so popular. For one reason, kids can jump on very easily. 

Early variation of this design. Bikes last 4-5 years I'm told. The battery goes about 2 years. 

The next series of photos are panos taken at night.

Night Pano

Night Pano

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